Which iMac?

[GbV76]

Hi all,
I'm thinking of getting my fiancee a refurb iMac to use for photo editing. Apple.ca has both an aluminum 20" and an older white 20" for $999CDN. I'm slightly leaning towards the white one, as it (I think) has a matte screen. I understand this may be better for photo editing (a contentious topic I know). Also, the fiancee thinks she likes matte better (based on using my Macbook Air vs every other LCD she's ever seen).
What do you guys think? Am I crazy? How big a difference will the video card between the model make?

Other specs, white vs aluminum:
2.16GHz C2D vs 2.0GHz C2D
667MHz FSB vs 800MHz FSB
ATI Radeon X1600 128MB vs ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT 128MB

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

Hi all,
I'm thinking of getting my fiancee a refurb iMac to use for photo editing. Apple.ca has both an aluminum 20" and an older white 20" for $999CDN. I'm slightly leaning towards the white one, as it (I think) has a matte screen. I understand this may be better for photo editing (a contentious topic I know). Also, the fiancee thinks she likes matte better (based on using my Macbook Air vs every other LCD she's ever seen).
What do you guys think? Am I crazy? How big a difference will the video card between the model make?

Other specs, white vs aluminum:
2.16GHz C2D vs 2.0GHz C2D
667MHz FSB vs 800MHz FSB
ATI Radeon X1600 128MB vs ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT 128MB

Aperture can use the video card a little bit, other than that, video cards are unimportant for photo editing unless you plan on attaching a large external monitor.

SLC

 

[rogersmj]

Not just the fact that it's matte, but that it's an IPS panel whereas the new iMacs use cheaper TN panels that screw up colors pretty bad unless you're looking at it absolutely dead-center. I had a white iMac, bought the Aluminum one when it came out, and quickly regretted it. I sold the Aluminum iMac not too long ago. It's horrible if you want color accuracy. A beefed up Mac Mini with a decent monitor would be a better choice for photo editing, or a refurb white iMac (although with those you're limited to 3GB of RAM).

 

[GSMiller]

The white does have a matte screen. I bought one new in October 2006 and have had zero problems out of it, and I use it hours on end every day.

 

[ChrisA]

I bought a white imac for US$999. It was the last one the store had after the aluminum iMacs came out. Mne was the 24" model discounted because there was no box and it had been used as the store display.

If you want a 20" model the old ones really were better. The new 20" screen is a cheap 6-bit TN display. The old white iMacs had better quality LCD screens. CPU speed is good enough for PS CS3 and Aperture 2 but was to slow back when I had to use PS under Rosetta but now it is fine.

Get a some good fast firewire external drives for storage and backs.

 

[147798]

Get the white one -- plus the remote sticks to the side